DLT Trading finds a new edge and grows 48% after migration from Yahoo Stores

How a cutlery brand experiences a sharp increase in success with a modern ecommerce platform

48%

48%

49%

increase in revenue

increase in orders

increase intraffic

The DLT Trading success story

Founded in the late 90s by Jason Thoune, DLT Trading was built for growth, beating nearly all its competitors in the race online.

After acquiring Oregon Knife Shop and its internet sales business, Jason knew the Yahoo Commerce platform, which he had used to launch the company’s first website, wasn’t capable of providing the scale and functionality the combined business needed.

After looking at a variety of platforms, including Magento and Shopify, he decided BigCommerce provided the platform edge he wanted.

Since migrating, DLT Trading has further accelerated online sales and traffic using enterprise-grade applications like ShipStation, Groove, and Smile.io to take business to new heights.

Yahoo was no longer a viable platform

As told to BigCommerce by Paul Edgette, Manager, dlttrading.com

We initially started looking for a new ecommerce platform because Yahoo Stores was starting to feel stagnant. The features were lagging, and updates were few and far between.

It was frustrating.

At the same time, our catalog was growing by leaps and bounds, and there started to be issues just managing products on the platform. We couldn’t export products to edit, for example.

These small things started adding up, and the support wasn’t great when we needed it. We knew it was time to start looking elsewhere.

Topics Covered

Evaluating ecommerce platform initiatives

As told to BigCommerce by Paul Edgette, Manager, dlttrading.com

During our evaluation phase, we looked at Magento, but we couldn’t figure out the pricing structure. It was very unclear. Plus, we didn’t want to deal with an outside server since we weren’t planning on hosting our own in-house. With Magento, we found that some of the features were fairly complicated. All of these issues, paired with the unclear licensing fees, made this a deal-breaker for us, and we ultimately crossed them off the shortlist.

We also looked at Shopify as an option, but they didn’t understand the size or scale of our business. They kept showing us plans for 100 SKUs, but we have more than 10,000. It felt like they were reading to us off a script and not taking us seriously.

Charting a path forward with BigCommerce

As told to BigCommerce by Paul Edgette, Manager, dlttrading.com

BigCommerce helped us migrate to a modern enterprise platform, and when we wrapped up our transition from Yahoo, all of our products and SKUs were correct.

We liked that we were able to wireframe everything so we were on the same page with our designer. We basically gave a blueprint and had our site custom-built from graphics to menus. It couldn’t have worked better.

DLT Trading worked with BigCommerce partner, EYStudios on the migration and new site launch.

BigCommerce helped us migrate to a modern enterprise platform, and when we wrapped up our transition from Yahoo, all of our products and SKUs were correct. Paul Edgette, Manager, dlttrading.com

BigCommerce's bulk import feature is so much simpler than what we were doing before on Yahoo.Jason Thoune, Owner, dlttrading.com

Bulk uploads for simple product management

As told to BigCommerce by Jason Thoune, Owner, dlttrading.com

We’re a small team here, so we all wear a lot of different hats.

That’s why we like features like bulk uploading –– anyone can do it because it’s intuitive and fast. I don’t always have time to go over every granular detail, so it’s nice to know I can delegate this task. BigCommerce’s bulk import feature is so much simpler than what we were doing before on Yahoo.

Rewards programs that boost customer loyalty

As told to BigCommerce by Jason Thoune, Owner, dlttrading.com

We integrated Smile.io with our BigCommerce store for our rewards program, and the ROI on that is off the charts. It’s ridiculous.

Recently we had someone on social media ask for a comparison between us and major competitor, and it was our rewards program that set us apart.

There’s a lot more we can do with this too as we add VIP tiers –– we’re just starting to flex our muscles with this feature.

Integrations that simplify business

As told to BigCommerce by Paul Edgette, Manager, dlttrading.com

There are a couple of integrations we use to make things operate more smoothly.

ShipStation is the best addition we’ve made to our site in years because it allows us to get all of our orders in one place, and it takes care of all the customer notifications –– shipping, tracking, confirmation, you name it.

We also integrated Groove for customer service, which has been nice because it allows our whole team to be on the same page about support –– we can all see what’s coming in through email. It’s been a great help.

ShipStation is the best addition we've made to our site in years because it allows us to get all of our orders in one place, and it takes care of all the customer notifications – shipping, tracking, confirmation, you name it.Paul Edgette, Manager, dlttrading.com